Embracing the Provinces: Society and Material Culture of the Roman Frontier Regions

Embracing the Provinces is a collection of essays focused on people and their daily lives living in the Roman provinces, c. 27 BC-AD 476. The main aim is to showcase the vibrancy of Roman provincial studies and suggest new directions, or new emphasis, for future investigation of Roman provincial world. It capitalizes on a wealth of data made available in recent decades to provide a holistic view on life in the Roman provinces by analysing various aspects of daily routine in the frontier regions, such as eating, dressing, and interacting. The contributors, who are acknowledged experts in their fields, make use of innovative interpretations and modern approaches to address current issues in the study of the provinces and frontiers of the Roman Empire. Twenty-one essays are cohesively structured around five themes, encompassing studies on the female and juvenile presence on Roman military sites, Roman provincial cooking, and Roman cavalry and horse equipment. For the first time in the Roman provincial scholarship the volume has a special section on the subject of Roman leather, providing a much-needed overview of the current stance of work. A few papers deal also with experimental archaeology. The essays reflect a wide geographical and chronological range, while retaining thematic consistency, and will be of great interest to those working in Roman archaeology and provincial studies.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Abbreviations Contributors Carol van Driel-Murray: an appreciation David J. Breeze   PART 1: IT’S A MAN’S WORLD 1. Two pieces of cavalry helmet from the province of Gelderland Annelies Koster 2. “If you go down to the woods today…” A rare item of Roman horse gear from the Dutch–German border Clive Bridger with a contribution by Frank Willer 3. Ethnic identity and archaeology: Case studies from the “national numeri” of imperial Rome’s armies Ian Haynes 4. Transfers between units in the Roman army David J. Breeze   PART 2: GENDER MATTERS 5. Ghost train: the (almost) invisible dependants of the Roman garrison at Dura-Europos, Syria Simon James 6. Farming the frontier? Mixed occupants and occupations at a Roman outpost in the Rhine delta, c. AD 180–230 Erik P. Graafstal 7. Tracing women in Roman numismatics Fleur Kemmers 8. Multi-functionality of a Romano-British glass bangle: Between theory and practice Tatiana Ivleva 9. A Germanic woman’s hairpin from the Roman Naval Fleet Base Velsen I (NL): A story of lost and found again Michael Erdrich 10. Veiling in Pannonia Ursula Rothe   PART 3: WHAT’S COOKING? MILITARY AND CIVILIAN FOODSTUFF 11. Meals and the Roman military Penelope M. Allison 12. Food for soldiers: Farm deliveries from Germania inferior in the second and third centuries AD Laura I. Kooistra 13. Nice Meating: The canabae legionis livestock market at Nijmegen revisited Mark Driessen 14. Cauldrons and feasting in Oppidum Batavorum on the eve of the Batavian Revolt Harry van Enckevort   PART 4: A LONG WALK FROM ROME: THE LEATHERWORK AT THE EMPIRE’S EDGES 15. Footwear and fashion on the fringe: stamps and decoration on leather and shoes from Vindolanda (1993–2016) Elizabeth M. Greene 16. The shoe is on the other foot? The introduction of footwear as an example for changes in the rural community of the Cananefates Jasper de Bruin 17. Another piece in the jigsaw: the leather from a Roman well at Tollgate Farm, Staffordshire, UK Quita Mould   PART 5: FILLING THE GAPS: INVESTIGATING THE UNEXPLORED AREAS IN PROVINCIAL STUDIES 18. “Putting some fl esh on the bones”: Bringing Roman London to life Jenny Hall 19. Pillow talk Lindsay Allason-Jones 20. Stylising the functional: Wooden hair combs from Vindolanda Barbara Birley A bibliography of the works of Carol van Driel-Murray

About the Author :
Tatiana Ivleva is a research fellow at Newcastle University. She studied archaeology at the Russian State University for the Humanities in Moscow, Russia, and Leiden University, the Netherlands, where she received a PhD in 2012 with a thesis entitled "Britons Abroad: the Mobility of Britons and the Circulation of British-made Objects in the Roman Empire". She has published extensively in edited volumes and international journals on Roman diaspora, migration, and mobility, the Roman army and provincial material culture. Jasper de Bruin is a lecturer at the Faculty of Archaeology of Leiden University, the Netherlands. His main research interest focuses on the archaeology of the Roman period, especially communities and exchange mechanisms in the western part of the Netherlands. Mark Driessen is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Archaeology of Leiden University, the Netherlands. His main research interests are the military logistics, infrastructure and trade in the Roman period.

Review :
This is a well-produced volume […] The papers cover a wide range of themes, but are held together by an overarching interest in the material culture and lived experience of the military and civilian populations of the north-western Roman provinces.